


After the fact

by Beleriandings



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Series 03 Fix-It: Children of Earth (Torchwood), Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:01:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26621068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beleriandings/pseuds/Beleriandings
Summary: Well, she’d been right about this being a job interview then, Lois thought. By a certain definition, anyway.
Relationships: Gwen Cooper/Rhys Williams, Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones, Lois Habiba & Jack Harkness
Comments: 22
Kudos: 57





	After the fact

It had been a total of twelve hours since _everything_ had been officially declared over, and Lois had been on her feet and working for about ten of them without a break.

So had the others, of course; they’d been going for longer, in fact. She’d been the lucky one really, having been in her cell for the early part of it. Which probably counted as a rest by the standards of the week they’d all had.

Not that she’d been able to sleep, or really relax at all. But still.

Since Gwen and Rhys had come to pick her up from the cell she’d been non-stop busy again. She’d tried to absorb everything they told her on the way out, their explanations of what had been happening, how the children were no longer under threat, the aliens gone. And the government in chaos apparently; turning on itself, the cabinet falling to infighting as the Prime Minister was forced to resign in disgrace.

They’d got to the helipad just in time to see the helicopter lift off; she squinted up against the light to see a woman and a little boy peering down, the child waving down at two men standing on the side of the pad seeing the helicopter off.

One of them was waving up at the helicopter too. He was wearing a long, old-style coat and had his arm around the other man, who was dressed in a suit, and was talking into a mobile phone. She recognised them immediately from the video link to Thames House; Captain Jack Harkness and Ianto Jones, Gwen’s boss and coworker at Torchwood.

Gwen explained that the woman in the helicopter was Jack’s daughter, and the boy his grandson, and they were being taken home under armed protection. Honestly, this only raised more questions for Lois, but she didn’t have time to ask them because by then the Captain was jogging over to them, Ianto following a step or two behind.

Gwen and Rhys had introduced her and she’d found her hand being thoroughly shaken, both of them thanking her for what she’d done. Ianto, it turned out, had known just what to do with the footage she’d provided; it seemed he had a certain knack for blackmailing and manipulating politicians should the need arise, knowing where to release the information and when. Captain Harkness – and Lois was wondering if she should be calling him _Jack_ , since the others all did – was not quite as she expected. She’d expected someone entirely hardened by all this, a consummate soldier like he appeared. And he was that, she thought, from a distance; the difference was in the details. Lois had always been good with details; it had been what made her so good at her job.

And the details about the Captain were very telling when she finally met him in the flesh. For one thing, though he was holding court and barking orders in every direction, fierce and tireless and animated, she didn’t miss the way his eyes lingered on his team. Every time they stepped out of his line of sight, he’d be looking around, darting glances in their direction as though to check they were still there, still alive and close to him. There was a kind of under-the-surface vulnerability to him that she hadn’t expected, even though he was very good at disguising it.

She hadn’t anticipated how _gentle_ he was, either. Gwen had told her about him and Ianto already; not that she’d have needed to, thought Lois as she saw their hands brush in between them again, Jack’s hand resting lightly at the small of Ianto’s back when they stood side-by-side looking down at papers on the table. But it wasn’t just him, was the thing: it was all of them. They were more than his employees, she knew.

There was also a frenetic energy to the man. But all of them had that to an extent; there were times when she was left with Rhys – and she still wasn’t sure if Rhys was officially Torchwood or not, but perhaps it didn’t matter because Torchwood didn’t really seem to do _official_ in the usual way – while Gwen and Ianto helped Jack, making a formidable team as they talked to people, called in favours and edited stories and fixed things, always filling in the cracks everywhere they went. But if Lois found herself at a loose end it was only for a moment, as she was quickly roped into reeling off some key telephone numbers to help Ianto plant some false accounts, or helping Gwen clear the evidence of their makeshift base from the warehouse, or going with Rhys on a coffee and sandwiches run halfway through the day, carrying supplies back for the team to share.

She liked them, she found; normally she might find it intimidating, having to impress new people. She’d certainly felt so at the beginning of the week, starting her new job. She even had with Gwen and Rhys when she’d first met them, all eager to impress. But now, Lois found, she barely had the energy for it anymore, after all that had happened. And besides, so much had changed since then; _everything_ had changed, more than she’d thought possible in less than a week. And so she didn’t feel intimidated by the others, really. Rather, she found she was warming to them quickly. Gwen with her ferocious, unstoppable compassion, Rhys dependable, kind and down-to-earth, oddly protective and always trying to make Lois smile, Ianto with his quick wit, sharp smiles and his precise way of doing things, and the fierce loyalty she could tell was underneath; yes, she could see why Jack cared so deeply for them all. She was learning other things about them too: she found out that Gwen and Rhys were expecting a baby, though it was still early days. She learned that Ianto had a sister back in Wales; it had been her that he was on the phone with when she’d seen him on the helipad, giving him a piece of her mind for the scare he’d given her with an ominous phone call the previous day. She’d learned that Jack was much, much older than he looked; Gwen had told her this early, saying if they were going to do this they weren’t going to be having any more secrets kept for no reason amongst people who should trust each other.

The only person who wasn’t there was Jack himself. According to Ianto, this was because he had gone to have a _quiet discussion_ with several key figures from Whitehall, and by the others’ expressions Lois thought she could guess at least some of what this entailed. Either way, she decided not to pry any further.

Lois was just thinking longingly of those sandwiches – hours had passed now, and she’d barely noticed it had got dark hours ago because they’d all been running on caffeine and the rush of it being _over_ , and being free and alive – when Jack came back. And that, it seemed, meant it really was over, because he was herding them all towards a late-night takeaway in a side-street, the only thing that still seemed to be open. They’d wanted something that wasn’t beans, Jack said with a grin, and then Rhys had got rather defensive, and Ianto had snorted with laughter while Gwen started up giggling; Lois thought it best not to ask about this either.

They sat down at the sticky plastic table in the one small cramped booths and Ianto took their orders for food, going up to the counter and bringing back chips, kebabs, drinks and a pizza to share. They were quiet as they ate, everyone tearing hungrily into the food at the beginning, but very rapidly it had turned from eating type of quiet to sleepy quiet, as the adrenaline amongst them started to ebb. Rhys was the first to fall asleep, slumping sideways to Gwen’s shoulder before they’d even got far with the food in front of them. Soon Gwen had given in to the pull of exhaustion too, because she’d dropped her head down beside his, eyes slowly slipping closed. Next was Ianto, who managed to hold on about another ten minutes before he slumped to the side, leaning heavily against Jack’s shoulder. As he did Lois caught Jack’s indulgent smile, and watched as he reached to the side and very gently undid Ianto’s collar button, loosening his tie without waking him in a way he’d obviously had a good deal of practice at.

And then it was just her and Jack, the owner of the place having retreated into the kitchen at the back. The silence between them was not awkward, exactly, but it did feel like it was waiting to be filled with something. Still, Lois didn’t feel pushed to fill it just yet. Apparently Jack didn’t either, as he was taking a moment to help himself to the last of the now-cold chips from Ianto’s tray, taking his time like it was the greatest delicacy in the world and not something they’d got at two AM at a questionable takeaway in a back street in Vauxhall.

It was all rather surreal, Lois thought as she squinted against the bright fluorescent tube lights, listening to the tinny buzz of the radio and idly picking at the remains of her kebab with her plastic fork.

Besides, there was a certain feeling she’d had through all this, a feeling she couldn’t quite shake ever since they’d got her out of her cell. Like she was in some sort of bizarre, extended audition – or a job interview – though for what exactly she wasn’t entirely sure. Thus, she’d been running on a certain amount of adrenaline the whole time; she doubted she’d be able to sleep now even if she tried.

It was at that moment that Jack smiled gently at her, reaching across the table to grasp her free hand, giving it a squeeze; his fingers were very warm. “You know, there’s still a job for you with us in Cardiff, if you want it.”

Lois started slightly, then had to choke back the slight hysterical laugh, swallowing the last bite of kebab before speaking. “Is this how you interview all your staff?”

Jack chuckled quietly. “Not exactly… that’s the thing about Torchwood, no two recruitments are the same.” Jack looked around from Gwen to Ianto, gaze filled with affection. “...Maybe they’ll tell you those stories some time. But let’s just say I’m pretty good at picking my people. Got an instinct for it, I guess. ...Though just occasionally, they pick me instead.” He idly ran his fingers through Ianto’s hair and then seemed to come back to the present moment again, squeezed her hand and raised his eyebrows questioningly. “So? What d’you say?”

Well, she’d been right about it being an interview, she thought. Though perhaps she’d already passed it? Or maybe this was still part of it? She stared at him for a moment, suddenly paralysed by doubt; was this week really what she wanted her life to be like, from now on? She’d seen such terrible things. But then again, where else did she go from here? How could she possibly go back to normality, after this?

She frowned, thinking of the things she’d seen; the child, mutilated and wired up to be sucked dry by a creature from another world. Worse, almost, the government she’d worked for turning against its own people, its own children, using them as bargaining chips so easily. Lois knew which monsters she feared most, in the end.

But she’d also seen people fighting back; ordinary people, fighting for their children. And Torchwood… she’d seen them fight so hard against such long odds, risk their own lives when they could have easily run and hid. Jack wouldn’t have died – probably, she still had to ask Gwen for clarification about all that – but the others, she knew, would have sacrificed their lives if it meant that the world’s children were safe.

Could that really be her life?

Deep down, she knew it wasn’t even a question. She’d known since she started this, hadn’t she? She’d known since the very moment she’d met Gwen and Rhys in that cafe, always looking over their shoulders, on the run, and decided to trust them. No, actually, she’d known since the moment she’d secretly logged into Bridget Spears’s account to look at the files on Torchwood, knowing that something wasn’t right.

And she still knew. She looked up at Jack again, all her doubt pushed aside as she met his gaze. “Okay” she said, laughing slightly. “Yeah, okay.”

He gave her a big grin, patting her on the back of the hand. “Welcome aboard then, Lois Habiba” he said. Against his shoulder Ianto stirred a little, and Jack only slightly undercut the solemnity of the moment by leaning down to press a kiss into his hair. “I’ve got this feeling you’re gonna be good.”

Lois smiled, looking at the two of them, and Gwen and Rhys slumped exhausted against one another in the booth beside her, their hands tangled together in their laps between them.

And despite it all, despite the pain and the horrors and the utter human cruelty they’d all seen over the last week, Lois was in that moment filled with a profound sense that somehow, _somehow_ , everything would be okay.

“Thanks” she said quietly, hoping to convey all she was feeling in only a few words. Though perhaps actions would be better in this circumstance, she thought. “I’ll try my best.”

**Author's Note:**

> Based on [this](https://ultraviolet-eucatastrophe.tumblr.com/post/630043003662352384/i-want-post-children-of-earth-fic-in-an-au) tumblr text post which came to me in a vision this morning  
> Also no I do not know how they fixed the whole 456 situation in this AU, it's not important to the story so I just... didn't write it (and I think that's very valid of me)


End file.
